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I call this the Petty Depression. It's not nearly as bad as the depression of the 1930s, but it's worse than a recession. Recession is the predictable, brief, a

I call this the Petty Depression. It's not nearly as bad as the depression of the 1930s, but it's worse than a recession. Recession is the predictable, brief, and necessary period of creative destruction and contraction in a functioning economy. It causes some people to get laid off, but they usually get better jobs within 1-3 years, and the economy as a whole improves. This is something else, and will have a long-term scarring effect on the nation. The fact that "petty" means both small (which this one is, as far as depressions go) and mean-spirited (price-gouging on housing with young families at the barrel-end) means it fits surprisingly well.

stretchwithme 17y ago
how about we see how this goes before we declare it healed? The government borrowing massively to keep the government sector expanding and is paying people to consume in an effort to convince everybody that things are recovering. This is not sustainable and only worsens our situation. One day, we must face up to our debts. We'll be very lucky if interest rates aren't jacked up on us. And, as in Japan, it seems they want to keep the zombie banks alive and avoid acknowledging the extent of the problems.
- pw0ncakes 17y ago
  I'm not ready to "declare it healed", but the probability that our depression becomes anywhere near as severe as the 1930s Great Depression is very low. It has created a lot of suffering, and will likely cause a lot more, and we may not get out of it until the 2020s, but I don't see it as likely that people will starve in this country, nor do I see widespread bank failures as likely.
  - vlod 17y ago
    Agreed. People still seem to have enough money to fill up and drive their huge SUV. When they trade them for Camrys is when I pull my money from the banks.
  - codexon 17y ago
    We will never see another depression driving down living standards to the level of the 1930s due to technology. But a relatively similar percentage reduction? Quite likely. I would say that this depression looks quite similar to the beginning of the great depression when you consider unemployment percentages and debt as a percent of GDP.

stretchwithme 17y ago

how about we see how this goes before we declare it healed? The government borrowing massively to keep the government sector expanding and is paying people to consume in an effort to convince everybody that things are recovering. This is not sustainable and only worsens our situation. One day, we must face up to our debts. We'll be very lucky if interest rates aren't jacked up on us. And, as in Japan, it seems they want to keep the zombie banks alive and avoid acknowledging the extent of the problems.

pw0ncakes 17y ago
I'm not ready to "declare it healed", but the probability that our depression becomes anywhere near as severe as the 1930s Great Depression is very low. It has created a lot of suffering, and will likely cause a lot more, and we may not get out of it until the 2020s, but I don't see it as likely that people will starve in this country, nor do I see widespread bank failures as likely.
- vlod 17y ago
  Agreed. People still seem to have enough money to fill up and drive their huge SUV. When they trade them for Camrys is when I pull my money from the banks.
- codexon 17y ago
  We will never see another depression driving down living standards to the level of the 1930s due to technology. But a relatively similar percentage reduction? Quite likely. I would say that this depression looks quite similar to the beginning of the great depression when you consider unemployment percentages and debt as a percent of GDP.